Welcome to the blog of the Tasmanian branch of the Children's Book Council of Australia!

Saturday, 4 March 2017

A Learning Community: Devonport Council's Aspirations

Devonport Council sets a bedrock
for a learning community through the Devonport Community Live & Learn
Strategy. Mayor, Steve Martin, outlinessome key initiatives including innovative strategies to establish
reading and literacy as a core expectation in the current Devonport Year of
Literacy. It is not too late to register for the Building Brighter Stronger Families Conference next Saturday, 11 March.

In 2012,
the City of Devonport Council (Council) consulted with the community to
consider the concept of becoming a learning community; to recognise the
importance of learning; and to task itself to promote learning wherever
possible - especially reading. A Learning Communities Special Interest Group
(Group) was formed with representatives from education, levels of government
and the community. The purpose: to construct a strategy that reflected a
holistic community approach to learning.

The
learning community strategy “Live and Learn” was launched by the Minister for
Education, Jeremy Rockliff, in November
2015, highlighting Devonport’s vision to become well connected, vibrant, an
innovative community and a place to lead, live and learn. The aim is to
increase the quality of life and learning opportunities to improve and enrich
Devonport’s social, cultural, economic and environmental well-being.

One of
the first actions conducted by the Group was the Festival of Learning, a
month-long event, September 2016, that celebrated lifelong learning, identified
and promoted learning opportunities and event in the Devonport Community. Over
17 different organisations collaborated, conducting over 35 events ranging from
a Young Writers Workshop, cooking for blokes to a storytime for
pre-schoolers, trade challenges and a Living Lightly Expo.

An
opportunity to help children develop good reading and communication habits,
gain self-confidence and foster a culture of saving ($) has recently commenced,
“Reading Salons”. Ten local hairdressers are encouraging children to read a
book out loud whilst having their hair cut and when finished, the children are
rewarded with a monetary donation. Books were provided by Soroptimist International Devonport.

There is much more to
tell as Devonport heads towards becoming a true learning community. Watch out
for Books for Babies and Supermarket Conversations. Devonport’s Year of
Literacy has an extensive range of programs to interest the local and wider
community.

1 comment:

We've been very fortunate to have Mem Fox speak twice in Devonport recently, due to the efforts of the Learning Communities Special Interest Group. The first time, Mem worked exclusively with parents and children from one of the lower socio-economic areas of Devonport, and received a standing ovation for her presentation by these families. Hopefully she has inspired them to continue to read with and to their children.

About Me

The Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) is a volunteer run, not for profit, organisation that was established in 1945 and is comprised of branches of individual members who are passionate about children's and young adult literature. This is the blog of their Tasmanian branch.